This week on Valley Edition, KVPR’s Rebecca Plevin reports on how valley counties are preparing to expand coverage to their poorest residents under the Affordable Care Act. We’ll also talk with Peter Cunningham, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Director of Quantitative Research with The Center for Studying Health System Change about whether the San Joaquin Valley as a whole is ready to take on health reform.

In the second segment of our program we talk about the long awaited opening of the Fresno Veterans Home. After more than a decade of planning and lobbying by Valley veterans groups the home is set to open fall of 2013. We ask guests Nazzeera Tackett, assistant administrator of the Fresno Veterans Home, and valley veterans advocate Charlie Waters about the process of opening the home and what it will mean to Valley veterans.

Pinnacles National Park is located about 140 miles east of Fresno. It was originally protected in 1908 by Theodore Roosevelt.

Credit Rennett Stow of Flickr under Creative Commons License

Last week President Obama signed legislation authorizing the creation of the nation’s newest national park, Pinnacles, located just a few hours from Fresno near the Central Coast. We close our program with a look at what makes Pinnacles a destination worthy of visiting. We’ll learn about is its soaring ancient volcanic pinnacles, monoliths and spires, and its wildlife, including the endangered California condor. Annette Kondo of the Wilderness Society, California region, joins us to talk about what the park offers and the process of upgrading the park from a national monument to a national park.

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Two new California veterans’ homes that currently sit empty in Fresno and Redding could start filling up over the next year. The state has announced it’s beginning to recruit hundreds of employees for the homes.

Ever since April, veterans’ homes in Fresno and Redding have had lights, air conditioning and water, but no veterans, or staff. This year’s state budget set aside money to start hiring, and now the California Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s ready to begin the recruitment process.

This week on Valley Edition, Juanita Stevenson reports on plans by the city of Fresno to privatize residential solid waste. We also talk with Dan Stone of National Geographic who recently wrote about the city's recycling efforts, and find out why Fresno is one of the nation's leaders in this area.